On My Own - Prompt Per Chapter Challange - for Quiffin
by NeverLand91
Summary: When Mistoffelees (Quaxo) and Victoria have a misunderstanding, things take a turn for the worst. Victoria has an accident and is rescued by an interesting stray named Tobias. Will she begin to fall for Tobias? Or will Quaxo find her before it's too late? Various elements per chapter.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**So I have put the elements I use in the Chapter headings so that it less confusing. Sorry but I mixed and matched a little...story must have a bat, and a character goes to sleep...it just wasn't doing it for me. This chapter is really short, because I mainly just wanted to set things up. Really, I guess it's more of a prologue, but whatever. I'm REALLY liking where this story is going. Also - Tobias is my OC. I love him dearly, he's kind of a cross between Thomas O'Malley (Aristocats) Milo (an original character SLIGHTLY based off of the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who), Dodger (Oliver and Company), and my real life cat at home (who's name is Tobias)... but he won't make his appearance until Chapter Two. As always, I don't own CATS. Expect Tobias - he is mine. *cuddles Tobias* Hope this works for everyone!

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Chapter One – Characters Argue / Vehicle Accident _Quaxo's POV_

Quaxo groaned in frustration. Victoria wasn't listening to him. "Victoria, honestly, I'll be back Friday! I don't understand what the big deal is."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Of course you don't."

He forced himself not to groan again, "Come on, could you please just explain to me what the problem is?"

"What are you doing next week?"

He sighed, "I'm going to visit Uncle Bustopher. You know that."

She nodded, her arms still crossed. "Yes. I know that. Do you know what ELSE is next week?"

He was growing tired of her games, why couldn't she just say what was bothering her? Never the less, he tried to think. Next week….trip to visit his uncle…what else was next week? He supposed he had to be missing something. "Victoria, please just tell me?"

She made a face, and it wasn't a happy face. She looked like she was about to cry. He gulped. Whatever it was he had done, it must be bad. With a heavy sigh she sat down on the cardboard box beside their bed. "Quaxo, our anniversary is next week."

His eyes widened. What? Had it been a year since they mated already? That didn't seem possible. But yes, now that he thought about it and did the math, it must have been a year. "Victoria…I – I'm sorry! I didn't realize we had been together for so long already."

She wasn't looking at him, and he sighed. He couldn't really blame her. "Victoria I'm sorry. I'll fix it ok?"

She looked up at him, "You won't go?"

He shook his head, "I'm sorry, I have to go. But I'll make it up to you! I'll make plans for us and we'll have a big celebration as soon as I get back."

She looked away again, and he knew that hadn't been good enough. "Victoria, I'm sorry. I can't get out of these plans…you know that."

She nodded, and stood up quickly. He thought he saw tears filling her eyes, but she turned away from him before he could be sure. "Victoria?"

She walked towards the old drainpipe that led out of their den, pausing at the exit. "I'm going for a walk. I'll be back later."

He nodded. "Alright, are you leaving the junk yard? It's getting late…"

She sighed, "Don't worry Quaxo. I'll be fine."

He took his seat on the bed and watched as his white queen disappeared through the drainpipe, then with a sigh he flung himself backwards to lie down. What was he going to do about this? If only he had realized that their anniversary was coming up. How could he be so stupid? He had to fix it. He had to get out of those plans. He couldn't leave her alone, at least not on their anniversary, and their first one at that! What kind of guy did that?

_Victoria's POV_

Victoria walked slowly down the street. Since she was out of the junk yard, she was also out of Jellicle form, and was enjoying walking on four legs for a change. Sure, she was a much better dancer as a Jellicle, and it was much easier to show affection in that form, but two legs was much slower than four.

How could Quaxo have forgotten their anniversary? She'd been keeping perfect track of the days, weeks, and months that they had been together. She'd been obsessive about it. How could he not think about it? He said that he hadn't realized they'd been together that long.

She paused in her tracks. He didn't think they'd been together that long. Honestly, if she hadn't been keeping track of it, she wasn't sure she'd have realized it either. It seemed like just yesterday they were having their mating ceremony, dancing around the junk yard with the rest of the cats. She smiled at the memory.

Maybe she had over reacted a little. Anyone could make that mistake. She chuckled, Bombalurina complained about that with Tugger all the time. Of course Quaxo would be capable of that as well.

She decided to go back home. She needed to apologize to Quaxo. She would tell him that he could go on his trip. She would survive. They could celebrate their year together later, when he got back. He'd only been gone till Friday.

She stopped in her tracks once again. He'd be back Friday! Friday was their anniversary! She wanted to slap herself. She'd been so worked up about him leaving, she hadn't even considered when he was coming back. Now she HAD to get back to him, so that she could tell him what an idiot she was.

She picked up her pace. When had she walked this far? It would take her forever to get home, and it was already dark. She really was an idiot. She picked her pace even more. She had a lot of ground to cover before she reached the junk yard.

She ran down the sidewalk, and around a corner. She ran through the park, and came to a street. She looked both ways, she'd seen what could happen to cats that didn't, and started across. Just then a car came blazing around the corner. They were moving so fast!

She stood there for a moment, frozen in terror. What to do? The car was coming straight for her. Finally her mind screamed "RUN!" and she did. She took off at full speed, but it was too late.

She saw the car close in on her, and tried desperately to get out of the way. But it hit.

She opened her eyes and she was flying. Pain wracked through her body, but she couldn't think of that right now. She slammed into something, hard, and hit the ground with a thud.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**Second chapter! Woot! We get the first glimpse of Tobias. Hopefully he's pretty neat. Poor Misto though, kind of losing his mind. Also, I don't own CATS. Also, also, please review and let me know what you think so far! :-) I really appreciate the ones I get. Thanks guys! Enjoy!

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Chapter Two – Character Is Tense / Character Gets Amnesia/Meets a Stranger _Victoria's POV_

"Hey!"

She moaned as something poked her, then a voice chuckled. "Hey! You're alive! That's great!"

She slowly opened her eyes, having to blink a few times as everything came into focus. There was a grey tabby cat looking down at her. He seemed very happy to see her. He made a sort of bouncing motion. "Oh good, I thought I'd lost you for a second. Hey, you're really lucky! They hit you from the side, if you'd been any closer to the middle, well…yeah."

She looked around. What was this cat talking about? She looked back at the tom, "Who are you?"

The grey cat smirked, "Oh! Right, manners, my name is Tobias."

She nodded, which brought more pain to her. He made a face, "You should be careful moving. You're really lucky you aren't dead. But I doubt you came out of that without any broken bones."

She rolled her eyes, "Came out of what?"

He stared at her for a moment, "That car nearly flattened you."

She couldn't help but smirk, "Did it now."

He nodded, "You don't remember?"

She shook her head, and another wave of pain washed over her. "I don't remember anything."

"Well that isn't surprising. You've got a pretty bad head injury by the looks of it" Tobias said as Victoria lifted her paw to feel her head. Now that he mentioned it, she could feel dried blood. Her eyes widened and she looked up at him again.

He sighed, and sat down beside her. "Ok, well let's start with something simple. What's your name, Kid?"

She looked at him and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came. She thought for a moment. What was her name? Surely she had one? After a moment or so of this her eyes widened and she looked at him in terror. "I don't know! I have to have one don't I? What is it? Why can't I remember?"

He held up his hands, "Woah there, Kid. I don't have all the answers. But my guess is that car knocked your memories out. I've heard of it happening some. I think the humans call it Amnesia."

She sighed. "What do I do now? I don't remember anything."

"Anything?"

She shook her head. She wracked her brain, trying to think of something, anything that would give her a clue about anything. Where did she live? Did she have any friends? She didn't know. She couldn't remember.

She heard Tobias sigh, "Well, I guess you can come with me for now. Can you walk?"

She slowly stood up, with the help of Tobias, and then they were walking. She looked over at him, "Where are we going?"

He shrugged, "To my place. I've got a lot of friends, and they'll be able to help fix you up, physically at least. Then we can worry about getting your memory back."

She wondered briefly is she should trust this tom cat. She didn't know anything about him, and something told her that she had someone else who would be searching for her. She didn't want to worry them…but she couldn't remember who, or why they should be important to her. So in light of that, she supposed that she had no choice but to accept this cat's help. She was pretty sure she needed it after all.

It was all she could do to walk, and Tobias had to help her even with that. She felt like she'd been hit by a truck which, by what Tobias told her, probably wasn't far off. She only hoped his "friends" would be able to help her.

_Quaxo's POV_

He stood inside his den. He would pace for a few minutes, and then stand still for a few minutes, and then pace, and then stand still. This was ridiculous. There was no reason she shouldn't be back by now. It was getting late. The moon was already high in the sky, and for every second she didn't walk through that pipe he got a little more worried. "She's fine, Quaxo. Don't worry."

He paused, "Great, now you're talking to yourself."

He growled, "Seriously, stop it. You aren't helping anyone by going crazy."

He groaned in frustration and sat down, his head in his hands. Something was wrong. He could feel it. She would never have stayed gone this long, even if she was mad at him.

He stood up quickly and headed out of the pipe. He had to find Munkustrap. As Victoria's older brother, he would be more than willing to help him search for her, and Admetus would probably help too. Quaxo nodded, yes, they would both help.

Munkustrap was out on patrol, and it didn't take Quaxo long to locate him, "Munkustrap!"

The grey and black tom looked up, "Quaxo? What's wrong?"

The tuxedo tom didn't waste any time, "Munkustrap, it's Victoria. She went for a walk and hasn't come back yet. Something is wrong, I can feel it."

"Quaxo, are you sure? She could just be out walking, it's a lovely night and – "

"I'm telling you Munk, something is wrong. Help me search for her?"

Munkustrap sighed and nodded, "Of course. Let's go."

The two went in search of Plato, to inform him that they were leaving the Junk Yard and that he needed to run the Patrol for the evening, and then the two left immediately. All the while Quaxo was sick with worry. His magical senses were tingling, and he knew, beyond a doubt, that something was wrong.

"When did she leave?"

Quaxo snapped back to attention, he had missed Munkustrap's question, "What?"

Munkustrap sighed, "Quaxo, when did Victoria leave?"

Quaxo shrugged "I don't know, an hour or two before sunset?"

The grey and black tabby cocked an eyebrow, "It's nearly midnight."

Our tuxedo tom nodded, "Now you see my concern?"

The two started down the street that led away from the junk yard, and towards the park. The park was one of Victoria's favorite places to go outside of the junk yard, so maybe she was there. Maybe she had just lost track of time, or fallen asleep, or something. Maybe he was wrong.

Suddenly Munkustrap put a paw out to stop Quaxo, and the black cat looked over at his friend, "Munkustrap? What is it?"

The grey tabby was looking down at the road, with his head cocked to a one sound. In that moment, he almost reminded Quaxo of a blood hound. "Munkustrap?"

"There was an accident here, of some variety."

Quaxo's heart pounded in his chest. "An accident? What kind of accident? How do you know?"

Munkustrap pointed to the burn marks where the car had slammed on its breaks, "A car tried to stop quickly for some reason."

Quaxo shook his head. That didn't necessarily mean anything did it? Cars had to stop quickly all the time. But still, he moved around searching for some other clue. Finally he found something that made his heart break in two. "Munkustrap."

He was standing in front of a tree, and as he heard Munkustrap come closer it was all he could do to hold himself together. He pointed to a very tiny pool of blood, "There's blood Munk."

"And white fur."

"What?" Quaxo looked up to see Munkustrap pointing at a small tuff of fur that was lodged in the tree. Something white had hit the tree at a high rate of speed, and probably fallen down onto the grass. It had been injured, and had probably lain there for several minutes, which caused the small pool of blood. "Munk…"

He felt a paw on his shoulder. "We don't know anything for sure. It may not have been her…"

But even as he spoke, Quaxo knew that it was. Slowly and dreadfully he reached out and pulled the tuff of white fur from where it was lodged in the bark of the tree. Slowly he lifted it up to his nose, and sniffed it. All at once scents filled his nose. He shook his head. "It's her Munk, it's her."

There was silence beside him, and then a heavy sigh, "Are you absolutely sure?"

"I know the smell of my own mate." But even so Quaxo gave the sample to Munkustrap, who sniffed it himself.

Quaxo was actually disappointed when Munkustrap nodded as well, "Yes, that is certainly my sister."

Quaxo wondered who was the most upset by this development. He had lost his mate, and had no idea what had happened to her or if she was even alive. But Munkustrap was her brother. Quaxo knew that he was just as torn up about it as Quaxo was…he was just better at controlling himself.

"Quaxo," Munk began "Let's get back to the Junk Yard. We can organize a search from there and see what's going on. Try not to worry, we'll find her."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**So, this chapter is a little bit sloppy and I apologize for that, but I couldn't find many elements that really went well with where I was wanting it to go, so I just got it as close as I could. Please review! Let me know how you like the story so far and what you think of Tobias. Don't get too attached though, in the next couple chapters you might not like him as much. As always - I don't own cats...only Tobias. He's my boy.

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Chapter Three – Set In Attic / Visits A Doctor / Search For Something

_**Victoria's POV**_

It was still dark when Tobias finally came to a stop in front of an old house. Slowly she looked up and almost wanted to run away…and she hadn't even been inside yet. "You live here?"

It was a run down, Victorian style home, with two stories, and what looked like a large attic. The siding was falling off, the paint was chipping, windows were busted out, there was yellow tape like at police crime scenes surrounding the place, but they said "DANGER – KEEP OUT" over and over again. She was more than willing to abide by the suggestion.

Tobias, on the other hand, seemed happy to have made it back. "Hey, Kid, don't judge a book by his cover. It's actually a really neat place. Come on."

Tobias pulled her gently around to the side of the house where there was a busted out window. It was low, easily low enough for cats to jump up onto, but she was wounded, and she wasn't sure she could make it. She was about to say this when Tobias suddenly pushed her up onto the windowsill and she all but fell over to the other side.

She shook her head as she started to rise, but stopped when she saw Tobias, at least she thought it was Tobias. He looked different. He was no longer a feline, walking on four legs. Now he looked more human than anything else. He had a human's face, and arms, and legs, but still had ears and a tail. She tried to scoot away from him but felt herself hit a wall.

Tobias laughed, "Hey, Kid, it's alright. It happened to you too."

She looked herself over, and he was right. She had the same humanoid figure, with the curves to match. She looked up at him, "What? How?"

He shrugged, "I don't know Kid, it happens to everyone. I think it's something the Boss controls, but I've never asked him about it."

She tilted her head, which felt awkward with the new humanoid neck, but somehow natural too. "Why?"

He hesitated, "Sometimes it's just better not to know I guess."

She didn't say anything to that, but slowly stood up, a little wobbly on two legs, but she found that it didn't take long to get used to it. "Now what?"

He smirked, "Now, we take you to the doc. Gotta get that head checked out."

She nodded and let him lead her around the corner to a particularly creepy set of stairs. They started up and with every step the stairs creaked. "Well, there's no sneaking up on your guys is there?"

Tobias chuckled, "That's the way the boss likes it. He's really paranoid, always worried about this tribe of cats that live in an old junk yard across town. Why anyone would want to live in a junk yard is beyond me."

She had to agree that sounded disgusting, although, it didn't sound that much worse than this creepy old house, but she chose to keep those thoughts to herself.

At the top of the stairs he went over to what looked like a closet door, and opened it, revealing yet another set of stairs. At least the other stairs had been open; these stairs were crowded by walls on either side. She felt like she was ascending into a prison. Maybe she was?

She paused at the bottom the stairs, and watched as Tobias moved up. He seemed to notice she wasn't behind him, and turned. He saw her watching nervously and sighed, holding his hand out to him. "Come on, you can trust me. Come with me."

Something inside her screamed that she shouldn't, that she didn't know him, but she had already come this far. She cautiously took his hand with a nod, and let him pull her up the stairs.

Upon reaching the top, she looked around in curiosity. The first thing she noticed, was that whoever had lived here previously had obviously not bothered cleaning out the attic. There was old furniture, and chests, and desks, and all sorts of other things. Some of them were covered in blankets, some of them were still full of cobwebs. No, this certainly didn't seem much better than a junk yard. The second thing she noticed, which perhaps should have come first, was that there were about fifteen cats (could she even call them cats? They were all in the same humanoid figure she was…) of all sorts of colors. But none of them looked very nice. In fact, many of them looked rather mean. Most of them were scared up from fights.

One in particular caught her attention the most. He was huge, and was bright red with black stripes. His face was horrifying, dark red with black marks that she assumed were scars. His whole body was covered in scars. And his hair! It was mangy and knotted up, and she wondered if he had ever brushed it. But then he looked up at her, and if looks could kill then she knew she would be dead on the spot.

"What is SHE doing here? Why did you bring her here!?"

Tobias shrugged, "I found her on the side of the road. She got hit by a car, lost her memory."

The giant ginger cat seemed to think about that. His gaze turned to her, "Lost your memory, eh?"

She took a step behind Tobias, whoever this cat was, she didn't like him. She nodded.

"Speak to me when you answer!"

She quickly did as she was asked, "Yes sir! Yes, I…I don't remember."

He smirked, obviously he was pleased by something. "What's your name?"

She looked up at Tobias, but the large cat growled, "Does he answer for you?"

She shook her head, then remembered he wanted her to speak, "No! No, he doesn't. I don't know. I don't remember…"

He smirked. "Wonderful."

Wonderful? Why was it wonderful that she didn't remember her name? Or anything? He seemed to be overly excited about it and that made her nervous. Tobias even seemed to be on guard. "Wonderful sir?"

The large cat nodded. "Wonderful."

It didn't escape her attention that his entire attitude had changed. He was smiling, and although it seemed honest enough, it still didn't quite fit his face, so it was hard for her to get comfortable. "Well, we'll just have to find you a new name now won't we? Let's see. You're a lovely white thing, surely we can come up with something."

He stood there thinking for a moment, and then shrugged. "Eh, we'll think of something before long. Tobias, take her to Doc and let him look her over. Then bring her back to me."

Tobias nodded and led her through the crowd of cats to an area where stuff had been cleared away. There was an older white cat sitting on a box in a corner, and when he saw her he smiled, "Well, aren't you a pretty thing. What's happened?"

"She got hit by a car, lost her memory." Tobias had answered for her once more.

The white cat, Doc she assumed, nodded, "Ah. I see. Well, let's have a look at ya."

Nearly thirty minutes of "does this hurt?" and "how does this feel?" and any number of odd questions and requests, Doc finally sighed. "Well, from what I hear, you're lucky you got out with just a bump on the head."

She nodded, "Yes, that's what I understand."

He smiled and pet her shoulder. "Well, just rest up. I can't promise you'll ever get your memory back, but your body needs to recuperate."

She gave another nod. "Alright."

Tobias offered a hand to help her stand up, "Come on Kid, Macavity still wants to see you."

At the name she stopped in her tracks. In the back of her mind, bells were ringing. She didn't know where she'd heard the name before, but it definitely struck a chord. "Macavity?"

He nodded, "Yeah, that big cat from earlier. He's the boss around here."

She tilted her head slightly, "I recognize the name…"

He laughed, "Well I'd be surprised if you didn't. Everyone knows that name. Now come on, Kid."

She followed him back to where they had seen Macavity earlier. He smiled when he saw her, "Well, hello there. Now, I've been thinking about what to call you. How do you feel about Arwen?"

She stood there staring at him, "Erm.."

"Great! Arwen it is!" Macavity clapped her on the back with enough force to nearly knock her over. Tobias reached out to steady her, and she gave him a grateful look.

"Arwen." She tested the name, she really didn't like it. She sighed, didn't look like she had much choice at the moment.

_**Quaxo's POV**_

They had come straight back to the junk yard, and immediately woken everyone up. Now Munkustrap stood up on the great tire, and everyone in the tribe was gathered around ready to help. Quaxo sat below him and listened as the Jellicle Leader spoke. He had been talking for the past few minutes, explaining to everyone the situation. "Now, I've already said this once, but it's worth repeating. We don't know what condition she is in. She may be fine, she may be hurt, she may be any number of things…so it's important to be prepared for anything."

Quaxo sighed for the hundredth time that night, and looked out at the faces that had gathered to support and help them. His eyes landed on the psychic twins, Coricopat and Tantomile. He narrowed his eyes at the pair, why hadn't he thought of them sooner? He slid off of the tire and made his way over to them, as always, they sensed his approach and moved slightly away from the group so that the three of them could talk more privately. "Coricopat? Tantomile? Do you know anything?"

The twins shook their head in unison, "Afraid not."

Quaxo sighed, that wasn't a good sign. "Nothing? At all? Isn't that a bit unusual?"

The twins nodded and again were in perfect synchronization. Coricopat spoke first, "We know that she is alive."

Quaxo was about to say something when Tantomile interjected, "However, she is very confused."

Coricopat nodded and the two spoke as one again, "The confusion is very confusing."

There was silence for a moment, and Tantomile sighed, "Quaxo, we are trying. But it is very difficult to get a handle on her."

Coricopat nodded in agreement, "We believe she is having some sort of problem with her memory."

Quaxo thought on that for a moment, "That could explain why she hasn't come home."

The twins glanced at each other then back to Quaxo. "We will keep trying Quaxo, we want to help."

He gave a small smile. "Thank you, I appreciate it. I'm going to go talk to Munkustrap about it."

He touched each of their shoulder in thanks, and then made his way back to the Great Tire to stand beside Munkustrap. The grey and black tabby looked at him expectantly, "Did the twins have any information?"

Quaxo sighed, "Not as much as I would have liked. They know she's alive, but for some reason she's really confused. They think she lost her memory somehow."

Munkustrap nodded, "If she hit her head during the accident that's not at all surprising. It would also explain why she didn't just make her way home."

"But that means she has no idea where she is. She's out there alone, and scared, and doesn't know who to trust. Everlasting Cat, what if she doesn't remember us?"

Munkustrap put his hands on Quaxo's shoulder, "Woah, Quaxo. You need to take a breath. Calm down. I doubt she's that bad off, although perhaps we should be prepared for that. But stressing about it isn't going to help us find her."

Quaxo only nodded slowly, and Munkustrap turned back to the group. "Alright everyone, we need to break off into groups. If we do it right, we can search the entire town over the next couple days. If she's out there," Quaxo cleared his throat at the "if" but Munkustrap ignored him and continued, "We'll find her. Alright, everyone break get into groups of three to five, minimum of one male per group please, and let's decide where everyone is going."

The next five minutes went by slowly for Quaxo. It took a few minutes for the cats to get themselves organized. Many of the kittens wanted to go together, but Munkustrap had to put them in other groups because "they needed adults with them too" or something like that. Quaxo hadn't been paying much attention. Quaxo did figure that it probably would have been faster if Munkustrap had just told everyone which group to go in. But that wasn't always his style.

Finally the groups were complete. The two sets of twins formed one group. Mongojerrie, Rumpleteazer, Coricopat and Tantomile, and then Admetus was also in that group. Quaxo figured that they would have an interesting day. They were to go search through the historic district, which was the favorite haunt of Macavity, and Quaxo prayed that they wouldn't be the ones to find Victoria. He didn't want to think about what Macavity would do if he ever had her again. She'd already had to deal with him once.

Other groups were Alonzo, Cassandra, and Exotica who would search through the park. Skimbleshanks, Jennyanydots, Etcetera and Electra would be searching through a few of the suburban's outside of town. Tumblebrutus, Rum Tum Tugger, and Plato would be searching through the east end; that was a rough part of town so Munkustrap had allowed it just to be the guys. Bombalurina, Jellylorum, and Asparagus were going to look around Victoria's old neighborhood, where she had lived before coming here. If she lost part of her memory, it made sense she would try to go back there. Then there was Quaxo's group; Munkustrap, Demeter, Jemima, Pouncival, and himself. They would be searching downtown.

Finally Munkustrap stood atop the Great Tire once more, "Alright everyone. You have your destinations and objectives. We all need to be back here by sunset! We don't need anyone else getting lost. Anyone have any questions?" There was a moment of silence as everyone looked around, and Quaxo was glad to finally be on their way when Munkustrap finally said, "Alright then. Let's move out."

The sun was just starting to peak over the horizon as all the cats left the junk yard.

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**Chapter Four Preview:**(Rumpleteazer's POV)

The two queens looked at each other, then moved forwards. Victoria and the tabby had dgone up to an old torn down house, and in through a broken window. Teazer looked over at Tantomile, "I'm goin' a li'tle closer. I wanna see wha's goin on 'ere."

Tantomile nodded, but stayed where she was, "I'm going to let Coricopat know we found her."

Rumpleteazer watched as her friends eyes glazed over, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes. She was glad she wasn't psychic. It was just weird.

She crept closer to the house, and managed to peak in a window. They were in Jellicle form! Which could only mean Macavity was nearby, and that wasn't a good sign.

Victoria was giggling, "Tobias, that was so much fun! So exciting!"

Teazer watched as Tobias ran up to Victoria and wrapped his arms around her, "Arwen! You're brilliant! I've never considered that approach before!"

Rumpleteazer's eyes widened. Arwen? Why was he calling her Arwen?

He picked her up and swung her around in a circle, Teazer's eyes widened even more as she watched Victoria laugh, "Thanks Tobias. I wasn't sure if it would work, but I'm glad it did."

He set her back down, but didn't take his hands off of her sides, and Teazer watched as Victoria looked up to see him staring down at her. Teazer couldn't believe what she was seeing. This was just wrong! Victoria was with Quaxo! She loved Quaxo! This tabby tom cat "Tobias" leaned down and pressed his lips to Victoria's. And Victoria didn't fight him! What was wrong with her!

Rumpleteazer hissed, and then regretted it instantly. Both of them broke the kiss and looked directly at her. Victoria gasped, and Tobias bolted towards the busted window. Teazer looked at Victoria once more, but there was no recognition at all in her friend's eyes, so she was forced to run. She ran back to Tantomile, and paused only long enough to pull her friend along. "Tell tha boys we ar' comin to them! And we 'ave got us som comp'ny."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**So I tried to get creative with this one, Victoria is stepping a bit out of her norm, but I guess she doesn't know any better. I just had to try a POV from Rumpleteazer. Not sure if I got the accent right, but you know how it is. Let me know what you all think? Things are about to get complicated. Oh yeah - as always, I don't own cats!

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**Chapter Four - Character Commits a Crime/Lies and Someone Else Eavesdrops**

**_Victoria's POV_**

The morning came too slowly for Arwen, she still didn't think that name really fit her at all, but she sat up slowly. After their meeting with Macavity, Tobias had led her out of the attic and back downstairs to a living room type area. There two couches there, he had taken one and she had made herself comfortable on the other. It had been a long night.

She hadn't slept a bit, the house creaked and there were shadows everywhere. Besides that she was alone. Sure, Tobias was not even ten feet away, but there was no one sleeping right beside her, up against her, and it just felt wrong. Something was missing. So she lay there on the couch for the rest of the night, just staring up at the ceiling trying to remember what it was that she had lost. Or maybe who? Yes. There was definitely a who.

For a small portion of the night, she thought about Macavity. He scared her, a lot. He looked at her as if he knew her, but he had been so seemingly thrilled to learn she didn't remember anything. What reason did he have to be happy about it? Yes, there was no doubt about it. He frightened her.

She wished he was here. Wait, she wished who was here? She groaned in frustration. There was something just on the edge of her mind. She could almost see a pair of eyes, but couldn't quite make them out. She knew it was a he now. She just knew it. She wondered who he was. How she knew him. Where they related somehow? Where they mates? No. Surely that wasn't the case. Surely she wouldn't have forgotten her own mate. Maybe it was her son? No, she couldn't imagine having a kitten without being mated first, and she'd already determined that wasn't the case.

She gave a heavy sigh, whoever he was, the thought of him brought her comfort, even though he wasn't around. He must be important. She HAD to figure out who he was.

The next time she looked up again, the grey light of dawn was finally creeping over the horizon, and she smiled. A new day had come. Maybe today she would find some answers. She heard Tobias groan from the other couch, and glanced over just as he was maneuvering. He was waking up.

She watched as his eyes slowly came open, and for the first time noticed how bright they were. They were golden, and she smiled. He caught her looking at him and smirked, "Hiya. How'd you sleep?"

"Fine." She lied of course. But it was easier than explaining how she'd been up all night trying to grasp figments of some far off memory she had no idea about. It was easier just to lie. "The couch is actually fairly comfortable."

He smirked, and nodded as he stood up and stretched. "Good. Now, let's go find some breakfast."

Arwen nodded, and realized that she didn't remember the last time she ate. No, literally she didn't remember. She hadn't eaten anything since Tobias had found her last night. Her stomach growled.

"Well, at least we know you're hungry!" Tobias grinned as he walked through the house to the kitchen, or what was left of it. All the appliances were so old, she wasn't sure they would even work if they were even turned on, or if they wouldn't explode or something.

"You know what the best part is about these bodies?" Tobias asked as he opened a cabinet beside the sink. Arwen shook her head, and he continued, "Thumbs! Humans don't realize how lucky they are."

She laughed, and he reached down, and pulled something off of the floor. As it came into view she realized it was a mouse trap. She wrinkled her nose. There was something weird about eating a mouse that had already been dead for a few hours at least. Tobias laughed at her as he easily got the mouse out of the trap, she could tell he'd done that a few times, and tossed it to her. "Bon appetit!"

She caught it easily, and grimaced. But she was hungry, so she ate it. It was cold, and stiff, and nothing like a fresh mouse caught in a field, but it was better than nothing.

Tobias had pulled out a second mouse trap, and was feasting on his own mouse, when a small brown tom cat came into the kitchen, "Tobias? Boss wants to talk to you for a minute."

The brown cat glanced at Arwen, and she couldn't help but look over at Tobias, who was simply nodding, "Sure thing, Riley. I'll head up in a minute."

Riley shrugged. "I think he wants you now."

Tobias nodded, and continued eating his mouse as Riley turned and left the kitchen. Tobias looked over at Arwen who was finally finished with the mouse. "Well, ARWEN, I guess I'll be back in a minute."

She narrowed her eyes, "Don't call me that."

He laughed, "No? It's your name now."

She shrugged, not wanting to admit how wrong it felt. "I kind of got used to you calling me Kid."

He swallowed the last bit of his mouse, "Yeah?" She nodded, and he smirked, "Well alright."

With that he stood up and headed towards the stairwell, right before he disappeared around the corner, he turned back, "Wait for me in the living room?"

She nodded, and he headed up the stairs.

_**Quaxo's POV**_

He looked around as the group finally made it downtown. The sun had only been up for maybe an hour, and hardly any of the humans were out yet, just a few of the people who had to open up their shops or restaurants.

It had been a long walk here, as the junk yard was clear on the other side of town, and even on the outskirts. Jemima was showing signs of fatigue already, and Quaxo sighed. It was going to be a long day by the looks of things.

Munkustrap had noticed his daughters weariness, and smiled, "Jemima? Pouncival? Why don't you two go check out those alleys," he pointed at a row of buildings, each with a small alley between them. "Don't waste time, but check everything carefully. Let us know if you find anything. And for Heavyside sakes, stay together."

Jemima was confused, but Pouncival understood the slight break Munkustrap was giving them, and pulled Jemima away. Demeter lifted an eyebrow at her made as he allowed their daughter to go traipsing through an alley on her own with Pouncival, but Munkustrap just smirked, "Did we really think they were going to be overly helpful to begin with?"

Demeter gave a coy smile, and shrugged. Quaxo only looked up and down the street, desperate for some sign of Victoria, "Where do we even start?"

As always, Munkustrap had a plan. "Well, I guess we split up. We need to check all of the alleys, and behind all the buildings. This is going to take time. She could be hiding somewhere, and she's small enough there are any number of places…check under cars and porches and anywhere else you think might be big enough to hide her."

He nodded and started walking off in one direction. Wherever she was, he hoped she was somewhere safe. He couldn't stop thinking as he walked down alleys, and looked under parked cars, anywhere big enough to hide a cat. "Oh Victoria," He said as he walked from car to car, "Where on earth have you gotten to?"

**_Victoria's POV_**

Tobias was certainly in a good mood as they made their way to the busted window they had come through the day before. He jumped up onto the window ledge easily, and disappeared on the other side. She jumped up as well, a little clumsy as she was still in a little pain from the accident, and jumped down on the other side, landing neatly on all fours. She was a cat again.

He smirked, "Well, let's get going then."

She nodded, and followed him closely, "Great!...Going where?"

He laughed, "Listen up Kid, we've got to get you some on the job training."

She tilted her head as they walked, "Training? For what?"

He stopped in front of a house, equally as old as the one they just left, but much better kept. This one had been fixed up recently and looked very nice. "Listen Kid, we're in the historic district. Do you know what that means?"

She made a face. "Uh, everything is really old?"

Tobias smiled, "Well, yeah. But more than that, everyone that lives in these houses are rich! They've got all sorts of things we can knick and they won't even notice!"

Arwen took a step away "Knick? You mean steal? Oh no, I can't steal anything."

"How do you know?"

She stared at him for a moment, and he took her silence as an invitation to continue talking, "Have you ever tried?"

She narrowed her eyes, and he smirked, "See? You don't know if you can or not. We won't know until you try! Maybe you'll even enjoy it!"

She rolled her eyes, "Fine. But how do we get in?"

He nodded towards the back yard, "This particular lady always leaves a window open in the kitchen when she's cleaning. Come on, let's go check it out."

They made their way around the back of the house, and sure enough there was a window open, from where they stood now, she could easily hear music coming. The human had a radio on. "So what do we do?"

Tobias glanced around, and then nodded towards the window. "The key here, is to get in and out when she isn't paying attention. Basically, anytime she has her back turned in the time to go. You'll have to be quick though, you never know how long she'll have her back to ya. Could be anywhere from five seconds to ten minutes. Got it?"

Arwen nodded and started to speak but Tobias continued, "Now, what you're going to do, is jump up on the window sill, and jump down into the kitchen. Like I said, make sure she's got her back turned or you'll be in for it. Then, there'll be a doorway to your right, take it fast before she turns around, then go up the stairs. Down the hall is a door on the left, which is usually open so don't worry too much about that, but that's the master bedroom. There is a dresser on the far side of the room, hop up on that, and you'll see lots of jewelry. Understand so far?"

She nodded, "What are you going to be doing?"

He smirked, "I'll be waiting on the ground under the window." He stopped, as if that explained everything, but she was obviously not getting it, so he continued, "There is a window almost level with the dresser. What you need to do, is open the window, then toss all the jewelry down to me."

"Then I can jump out the window?" She nodded, but he shook his head and she changed her nod to a shake.

"Of course not, you have to stay inside and close the window back once you're done, then you have to go back down the hall, down the stairs, through the doorway and out the kitchen window, just like you came in."

Arwen stared at him for a moment. She wasn't sure she could pull this off. "Are you sure about this?"

He nodded, "Oh, yeah, I've done it loads of times. Cept now I've got you here so we can just knick it all now. I can only carry so much on my own."

She sighed and he clapped her on the back with his paw. "Don't worry, Kid! You'll be fine. I'm going on around front, so you just move along when you're ready…but don't take too long. She'll be wrapping up her routine before too long."

With that he walked away from her and disappeared to the front of the house. She rolled her eyes, and wondered what she had gotten herself into.

Slowly she walked forward until she was just below the window. She wasn't at all sure how he expected her to know when the human had her back turned or not. Even when Arwen stood on her back legs she couldn't see through the window. No, she wouldn't know what was going on until she jumped up there, and once that happened she'd be seen if she didn't get really lucky.

Suddenly, she had a thought. She looked down at the dirt she was standing on, and gave a sigh. She was going to regret this, she just knew it, but if she'd done her calculating right, this would probably work better than Tobias' idea. So she lay down in the dirt, and rolled around. She could feel her coat getting covered in it, and grimaced. This was disgusting.

Now for the next stage of her plan, she stepped further away from the window, and starting meowing. Suddenly the music stopped, and the human was looking out the window. "Oh! Well aren't you adorable." The human said.

She disappeared from the window, and then the back door was opening and the human was walking towards her. Arwen took a few steps away, pretending both to be frightened of the human, as well as her leg hurting, which wasn't too difficult considering she'd been hit by a car just last night. She meowed again.

"Oh, it's ok Sweetie, I won't hurt you. If you'll come inside with me I'll get you a saucer of cream. How does that sound?"

Cream? Did she say cream? Arwen had to work to keep her ears from perking up. Humans aren't supposed to know cats can understand them. She meowed again, but didn't make a fuss when the human came to pet her, and even allowed the human to pick her up. And then she was being carried into the house, invited. No sneaking, no jumping. She caught a glimpse of Tobias watching from the corner of the house with his jaw hanging down. She smirked as the human entered the house and closed the door.

The human set her down gently on the kitchen table, and went to the fridge. "Now, don't you worry little thing. We'll get you all cleaned up, and fed, and you'll feel much better."

A moment later there was a bowl of cream in front of her, and Arwen lapped it up like she hadn't eaten in weeks. Maybe she had. The human laughed and pet her gently, "Well, aren't you hungry."

Arwen finished the cream, then jumped off the table, remembering to favor one leg, and walked around the kitchen, "Oh," the human said, "you want to explore. Well go on then I guess, not like you're going to carry anything off."

Arwen smirked to herself and disappeared through the doorway, and then she was on a mission. She bolted up the stairs, and down the hall, and into the door on the left, just like Tobias had said. Sure enough, there on the other end of the room was a long dresser, and it sat right below a window. She ran over and jumped up onto the dresser. It took everything she had to push the window open, but finally it lifted up, and she stuck her head out.

Tobias was there on the ground, maybe twelve feet below. "You, my friend, are a genius!"

She grinned and turned to face the jewelry that was all sprawled out on the bed. Then she started dropping pieces out of the window. There were necklaces, bracelets, rings. She left the ear rings, she didn't want to fool with trying to carry the tiny things, and then she stuck her head out the window again. "Alright Tobias, that's all of it."

He nodded, "Alright, I'll be waiting right here."

She nodded, and pulled the window shut again. It slammed down with a loud thud, and Arwen jumped down from the dresser. "Cat? What are you doing up there?"

Uh oh, the noise had made the human suspicious. "You'd better not be tearing anything up!"

Arwen came down the stairs to see the human standing at the bottom, in that moment, she was glad she'd gotten in the way she had, instead of trying to sneak. The human would have been much more suspicious of the window closing if she hadn't known Arwen was here.

The human gave a sigh and reached down to pick Arwen up, "Well, you sure are cute, but I'm afraid I can't keep you. I can't have you tearing stuff up…so you should just be on your way now. Feel free to drop by sometime if you need more cream."

The human carried her to the back door and gently set her down on the back porch. "Take care, now."

Arwen smiled to herself as the door closed behind her, and walked to the front of the house. Tobias was there waiting. "That was bloody brilliant!"

She smirked, "I'm glad. So now what? Back to the house?"

He nodded, "Back to the house. Wait till Macavity hears about this! He'll be pleased."

_**Rumpleteazer's POV**_

The five cats had been roaming around the Historic district for almost two hours, although for the past thirty minutes it had just been Rumpleteazer and Tantomile because the boys had all gone off to search the other end of the neighborhood. Teazer was getting bored. They hadn't seen anything that pointed to Victoria being anywhere around. Teazer was about to suggest they give up and go look somewhere else, despite their instructions, when Tantomile stopped in her tracks. Teazer tilted her head to look at her friend, "Milly? What's it?"

Tantomile put up a paw to silence Teazer, and the calico queen huffed. She didn't like being sushed, but if it meant finding Victoria a little faster then she'd put up with it just this once. After a moment of silence, she grew impatient. "Aww, come off it Milly. What ya on about?"

Tantomile smirked, "I found her!"

Teazer grinned, she couldn't believe it. "Nah! Really!? That's lov'ly! We just have ta go an' tell Quax. He'll be so 'appy!"

Suddenly Tantomile tilted her head, "Wait, isn't THAT Victoria?"

Teazer turned to follow her friend's gaze. Sure enough, a white cat was walking down the sidewalk with a light grey tabby tom cat. "Wha' tha…"

The two queens looked at each other, then moved forwards. Victoria and the tabby had disappeared gone up to an old torn down house, and in through a broken window. Teazer looked over at Tantomile, "I'm goin' a li'tle closer. I wanna see wha's goin on 'ere."

Tantomile nodded, but stayed where she was, "I'm going to let Coricopat know we found her."

Rumpleteazer watched as her friends eyes glazed over, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes. She was glad she wasn't psychic. It was just weird.

She crept closer to the house, and managed to peak in a window. They were in Jellicle form! Which could only mean Macavity was nearby, and that wasn't a good sign.

Victoria was giggling, "Tobias, that was so much fun! So exciting!"

Teazer watched as Tobias ran up to Victoria and wrapped his arms around her, "Arwen! You're brilliant! I've never considered that approach before!"

Rumpleteazer's eyes widened. Arwen? Why was he calling her Arwen?

He picked her up and swung her around in a circle, Teazer's eyes widened even more as she watched Victoria laugh, "Thanks Tobias. I wasn't sure if it would work, but I'm glad it did."

He set her back down, but didn't take his hands off of her sides, and Teazer watched as Victoria looked up to see him staring down at her. Teazer couldn't believe what she was seeing. This was just wrong! Victoria was with Quaxo! She loved Quaxo! This tabby tom cat "Tobias" leaned down and pressed his lips to Victoria's. And Victoria didn't fight him! What was wrong with her!

Rumpleteazer hissed, and then regretted it instantly. Both of them broke the kiss and looked directly at her. Victoria gasped, and Tobias bolted towards the busted window. Teazer looked at Victoria once more, but there was no recognition at all in her friend's eyes, so she was forced to run. She ran back to Tantomile, and paused only long enough to pull her friend along. "Tell tha boys we ar' comin to them! And we 'ave got us som comp'ny."

The two queens ran down the street in the direction that they knew the guys had gone. Every few seconds Teazer would sneak a glance behind them. Tobias was still behind them, and he was catching up.

"Teazer! This way!" Tantomile pulled her across and down a drive way, except now they had a problem. The driveway was lined on one side with a tall and thick line of hedges. And a high privacy fence lined the other side. There was a large garage door blocking their path. They were trapped. They would never make it up the privacy fence before Tobias caught them, and he was already coming around the corner.

"Milly! Why'd ya 'ave ta bring us 'is way!?" Teazer scolded her friend.

Tantomile just smirked, "You'll see."

Rumpleteazer rolled her eyes. "You an' ya cr'ptic, stupid, lit'le clues!"

Tobias came to a stop in front of the two queens and smirked, "Well, it looks like you're all out of options."

A new voice spoke from on top of the privacy fence. "You'd like ta think tha' wouldn' ya?"

"Jerrie!" Rumpleteazer looked up with pure joy. She'd never been so happy to see her brother in her entire life. Coricopat and Admetus showed up on the fence beside him.

Corrie looked down at Tantomile, "You ok?"

She nodded, and the three toms jumped down from the fence, Tobias took a few steps back, and snarled.

Admetus moved to the front of the group, taking charge of the situation, "You can see you're outnumbered. Why don't you just give us back Victoria and we'll be on our way."

Tobias tilted his head, "Victoria?"

Rumpleteazer glared at him. "Arwen."

Admetus looked back to Rumpleteazer and his eyes widened, and he turned back to Tobias with a glare, "You named her Arwen? What kind of name is that?"

Tobias smirked, "I didn't, Macavity did."

Even from behind, Rumpleteazer could tell that Admetus' face had fallen, Tobias had a grin on his face, as if he knew he'd won this encounter. Admetus gave a low growl, "Macavity has Victoria?"

The grey tabby smirked once again, basically it hadn't left his face. "No. She's with me, but Macavity has plenty of access."

Admetus snarled, "If anything happens to her, you're going to wish you'd never been born."

The tom cat laughed, actually laughed. "We have a lot of members these days. I'm not afraid of me."

When Admetus spoke again, Teazer was pretty sure she could HEAR him smirking. "It isn't me you should be afraid of."

Mongojerrie stepped up now, "Yeah! We 'ave a secr't weapon!"

Tobias laughed again, "Yeah, ok. Well you guys have a good day."

He turned to leave but Admetus stepped in front of him. "Just give us Victoria back. We can avoid a fight."

Tobias smirked, "I think she's worth a fight."

Rumpleteazer couldn't help but admire that, he really liked her. She felt bad for him though, Quaxo would destroy him. Victoria may not remember them now, but once she did there was no way she'd want to stay with this loser. Tantomile beat her to the punch though, "You do know, that once she remembers us she won't want to stay with you anymore?"

Tobias narrowed his eyes, "You don't know that."

Teazer smirked, "You don' know 'ow much she loves 'er mate."

His face fell, "She has a mate?"

Jerrie nodded, "Aye. And 'e's out lookin' for 'er. 'e'll kill ya if ya don' give 'er back."

Tobias glared at the entire group, "We'll see about that. I'm not giving her up. In fact…"

He paused as he thought about something, and Rumpleteazer was growing nervous. Finally he spoke again, "In fact, I'll make sure she's terrified of you."

Jerrie was smirking "An' just 'ow do ya' plan on doin' that?"

Tobias smirked, then looked at Admetus. "Like this."

And then he attacked. He pounced on Admetus, his claws extended, and tore into Admetus' shoulder. Jerrie and Coricopat of course jumped back on him, and a huge fight followed.

Teazer and Tantomile stood off to the side, and Teazer had to admit, the tabby tom could hold his own, but against two full grown toms he really didn't have a chance. By the end of it, he was well bloodied and she could tell his arm was hurt pretty bad.

As he finally gave in and started backing away, she couldn't believe that he was still smiling. But when he started speaking she understood, "Now, I just have to tell her you attacked me. She doesn't remember any of you, but she trusts me. She'll be so afraid of you when you come to get her."

The three toms in their group looked at each other in shock, and Teazer knew that Tobias had a point. She shook her head though, "You jus' wait till Quaxo come for 'er. Sh'll neva want ta stay wit ya."

He just smirked "We'll see who she wants to stay with."

With that he turned and ran off, leaving the five Jellicles alone. Admetus turned back to the group, "Looks like we're going to have a fight on our hands."

Rumpleteazer nodded, "Aye. Quaxo ain't gonna too 'appy 'bout this."

There were sighs from multiple cats in the group, and Admetus nodded, "Well, we'd best go tell him."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Ugh, I am so sorry it took so long to get this up! But I finally figured out the next chapter (which is the one I was stuck on...thank you evanescence for hitting me in the face with inspiration!) So here is Chapter Five! Again, sorry it took so long.

*Disclaimer - I do not own CATS or it's characters...only Tobias.

**Chapter Five – Dramatic Revelation /Feelings Revealed**

_**Victoria's POV**_

She stood pacing through the living room. Tobias had run off after that strange cat, but that had been several minutes ago. Where had he gone? Who was that cat? Arwen had so many questions buzzing around in her head and she felt like she just had to know.

She realized with a start that she was worried about him. What if he was hurt? What if that one cat had led to a large group of cat? She just knew something had happened.

Suddenly movement outside the house caught her attention, and she ran to the window just as Tobias fell through it. He was covered in gashes and blood and she gasped as she knelt down to him. "Tobias! What happened? Are you alright? How did this happen? Did that cat do this?"

Tobias laughed at her questions, but then grimaced in pain as she tried to assess the damage. "That queen led me into an ambush! She had a whole group there waiting for me. They attacked! It was all I could do to get away."

"Oh! What monsters!" Arwen narrowed her eyes in anger as she looked Tobias over. Those cats could have killed him! "Why would they do that?"

Tobias was quiet for a moment, and then looked up her, and she almost shrunk away from the seriousness in his eyes, "I suppose because they are just evil. They find that sort of thing fun."

Suddenly his hands were on her shoulders, and he pulled her down until her face was only inches away, "Promise me Arwen! Promise me you'll stay away from them! They'll only hurt you! Or worse!"

She nodded hurriedly, "Of course! Of course I promise."

Tobias sighed and nodded. "Good. I can't imagine anything happening to you."

She smiled at that, and kissed his cheek. "Don't worry, I'll keep away from them."

"Good, now, I have to go speak with Macavity." He reached up to touch her cheek, and stood up slowly. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

She watched as he stood up and clumsily made his way up the stairs and around the corner.

**_Tobias' POV_**

He maintained the act until he was onto the stairs leading up to the attic, then he smirked as he ascended the stairs and was greeted by Riley. "Tobias? What the hell happened to you?"

The tabby tom shrugged, "All part of the plan, my man. Macavity busy?"

Riley opened his mouth to respond, but Macavity came around the corner and beat him to it. "No, Macavity is not busy. Where is Victoria?"

Tobias shrugged, "She's downstairs."

Macavity nodded, and looked Tobias over for the first time. "What happened to you? You don't usually come away with that many wounds."

Tobias smirked, "I let them get me more than I usually would have. The Jellicles showed up here, I chased them off. But I decided that I needed to give Ar – Victoria, a reason to fear them. So I picked a fight. Now she's afraid of them."

Macavity grinned, "Well done. I assume they are going to try to take her back?"

Tobias nodded, "They seemed to be leaning in that direction. Kept going on about a Quaxo."

Macavity nodded, "Yes, he will be a problem. We'll need to have Victoria out of the way if we're going to deal with him."

Tobias tilted his head, "Wait, what do you mean?"

"Quaxo is my son, and possesses all of the magical abilities that I have, and then some. He'll stop at nothing to get her back. But, if we can use her to distract him, then we might can take him out."

Tobias knew that he wasn't necessarily talking to him, but he couldn't help but wonder where this was going, "Use her to distract him? How? I don't want her to get hurt."

Macavity turned on him now, and was yelling, "Don't want her to get hurt? Have you fallen for this cat? She is the enemy!"

Tobias didn't back down, everyone else may be afraid of Macavity, but he wasn't. He spoke just as loudly as Macavity had, "Not right now she isn't! She doesn't remember them at all, and seems to be quite happy with me! So yes, maybe I have fallen for her a little. I didn't know she was one of the Jellicles when I brought her here, I didn't know that until you told me. I will not allow any harm to come to her."

Macavity glared at him, but remained silent for a moment. After a bit of thinking, he finally spoke. "Very well, as long as she doesn't remember her life among the Jellicles, you may keep doing whatever it is that you're doing. But make sure she falls for you more than she already has. She needs to be conflicted if she does begin to remember."

Tobias nodded, and turned away from Macavity and headed back to the stairwell.

"And Tobias?" Macavity called to him. He turned to look, and Macavity smirked, "This is not a threat, simply a warning – Quaxo will be coming for her. You'd best be ready. You have not faced the likes of him before."

Tobias stared at him for a moment before giving another nod and turning to descend the stairs. He would take care of this Quaxo. He would find a way. He came out of the stairwell and leaned against the wall.

He took a deep breath and released it. If he was honest with himself – he WAS starting to care for her. Probably more than he should. She had really impressed him today, with her trick to get into the house. She'd been brilliant. And she was quite beautiful. He'd never seen a cat so white in his life, even Doc didn't white match her.

He sighed, wishing they had met under different circumstances. Why did she have to have a mate? And why did this mate have to be a powerful magician? He rolled his eyes. The odds were not in his favor.

But he still had a chance, if he could convince her that he loved her, and make her love him, then maybe Quaxo wouldn't be able to sway her. She didn't even remember him right now, maybe she wouldn't, and then she'd have nothing to compare Tobias to.

He nodded, that was his only option. That was the only way. He pulled away from the wall and started towards the stairs that would lead downstairs, and to her. He was half way down the stairs before he remembered he was supposed to be beat up and hurt. He sighed and picked up a slouch, and even a slight limp as he turned the corner.

Victoria – Arwen, came to meet him. "Tobias? How are you? Are you feeling better?"

Tobias nodded, and moved to sit on the couch. "A little, yeah."

She smiled, and moved to sit down beside you. "What did Macavity say about it?"

He hesitated, what should he tell her? "He says we need to be careful, that they might come back."

"Come back?" Her voice rang with confusion, "Why would they come back?"

He shrugged, and winced as a not quite imaginary pain cut through his shoulder, "Well, I imagine they are angry that I escaped."

She sighed, "They must be horrible."

He nodded, "They certainly can be."

She was silent for a few minutes, but Tobias sensed there was more that she was wanting to know, "What is it?"

She sighed, "Who are they?"

This was his chance, he had to sell it now. He had to make her believe it, "They are known as The Jellicles. They live in a junk yard on the other side of town. They are evil Arwen, tricksters that will make you feel something and believe it's true, and then right when you think you know them, just when you believe to trust them, they'll destroy you."

She looked down, and sighed. "I can't believe there are cats out there like that. That's just...horrible."

He nodded, but touched her hand with his. "It is. But I promise, I'll protect you. If they come back...I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

She smiled as she placed her other hand on top of his. "I know you will. Thank you."

_**Quaxo's POV**_

He sighed as they finally came out of the drainpipe and emerged on two legs. It was so good to be home, even if it was without Victoria. He looked over at Munkustrap, who looked just as upset as he was. Their day of searching had yielded absolutely no results. He didn't feel like they were any closer to finding her. He could only hope that one of the other groups had had better luck.

As his group reached the main clearing he looked up, only a few of the groups were back yet. Alonzo's group was back from the park, and by the look on his face they hadn't had any luck either. Tugger and his group were also back, but they didn't seem to have found her either. He sighed, and Munkustrap touched his shoulder, "Not all the groups are back yet, Quaxo. Don't give up yet."

Quaxo nodded, and turned to walk up to the Great Tire. He was about to turn around so he could sit on the edge, when a voice called to him from across the clearing, "Quaxo!"

His head snapped up to see who had called him. It was Rumpleteazer, her group was returning, and they were coming straight towards him. They had found her! Eagerly his eyes searched the group, looking for that special white face, but it wasn't there. His heart fell but he clamored down from the tire. "What happened? Did you find her? Where is she?"

Teazer nodded, "Oi, we found 'er alright. You ain't gonna like it."

He nodded, trying to prepare for the worst. "Is she alright?"

Jerrie nodded, "Aye. She's fine. Betta than fine if ya ask me. – umph!"

Teazer had elbowed him hard in the ribs, Quaxo looked from one to the other, "Better than fine? What does that mean?"

Jerrie shrugged, "Teaze' saw it. I'll let 'er tell ya."

"Tell me what? Rumpleteazer, what happened?"

Teazer took a deep breath, "Welp, she 'parrantly 'as a new friend…an' 'e 'parrantly fancies 'er."

Quaxo felt his heart clench in his chest. "I see."

She nodded, "An' she 'parrantly fancies 'im back…"

Quaxo looked at her now, and his eyes narrowed. "What?"

Tantomile stepped up now, giving Rumpleteazer a break from the metaphorical spotlight. "Quaxo, it was as we suspected. She doesn't remember any of us. She looked right at Teazer, saw her directly, and didn't recognize her at all."

Coricopat was there now, "We expect that this tom cat that she was with rescued her after her accident. He's all she knows."

Then came Admetus, "It's going to be difficult for us to get her back. He is filling her head with horror stories of us, she will likely be very frightened of us when she sees us next."

Quaxo glanced at Munkustrap, who seemed to be taking this about as well as he was, except as always, Munkustrap had better control of himself. Quaxo couldn't think, and it was Munkustrap who stepped forward to speak, "So what your telling us, is that Victoria is with a new tom, who is brainwashing her to being terrified of us, and she seems to like him."

The five cats nodded, Rumpleteazer stepped forward, "Aye, but that ain't the worst of it."

Quaxo moaned, "Teazer, what could possibly be worse than all of that?"

She sighed, and suddenly Quaxo was sure that he didn't want to know. When she finally spoke, it wasn't much more than a whisper, "Tobias – at's the othe' tom, is in Macavity's gang."

Quaxo's heart stopped beating for a second. Victoria was with Macavity? He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Munkustrap, "Quaxo, at least she isn't being held prisoner. Macavity won't hurt her, especially knowing she doesn't remember us."

Quaxo glared, "No! Only poison her against us further!"

Munkustrap nodded, "But that can be counteracted. We just need to get her back, then we will work on her memories. Maybe your magic can help?"

He sighed and put his head in his hands, "Magic doesn't work like that."

Coricopat and Tantomile stepped forward in unison, "We can put her into a hypnotic state, try to retrieve her memories psychically."

Quaxo looked up at the twins, "Would that work?"

They shrugged, Tantomile nodded, "It should. Maybe not all at once, but it will at least help her to shift through what is real and what is not."

Quaxo nodded, "Then it's the best chance we have."

"Well then, let's plan our attack, we need to get her back soon so that they can't poison her more than they have already." Munkustrap was speaking beside Quaxo, but Quaxo shook his head.

"No, it won't work." He sighed as he stood upright again, "A full on assault will only frighten her more. It will only prove what they are telling her. We need something more…inconspicuous."

Munkustrap tilted his head, "I see your logic, what are you thinking?"

Quaxo smirked, "I'll go in. Alone."

Munkustrap shook his head, "Absolutely impossible. It is far too risky."

"I'll go in disguised! With a new name and everything! No one will recognize me."

The grey and black tabby cat groaned, "You are indeed, a master of disguise. But you'll be going into the lion's den!"

Quaxo only smirked, "Then I'll just have to be as much of a lion as the rest. If anyone can get to Victoria, it's me. Munkustrap, I have to try."

Munkustrap ran his hand over his ears, "That is true, if anyone has a chance of getting through to her it would certainly be you. Fine, I still do not think this is a good idea, but if you think it will work…I've giving you two days. After that we go in after her. Or you can take someone else with yout."

Quaxo rolled his eyes, "Who would I take? I don't want to be responsible for anyone else while I'm in there. I need to focus on Victoria."

Munkustrap sighed, "Very well, I can respect that. Be careful and good luck."

Quaxo nodded. He figured he had a lot to undo in two days, but he'd make it work. He had to. With that he retreated to his den. He needed to get ready. He needed to become someone else.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:**So I named the last chapter wrong lol so oops. But here's the next chapter of this one. Hope you guys like it. Little bit of Fluff. I used a prompt for this one instead of the elements. Please review :-D

**Chapter Six - Slaughter Justice and Break Love**

**_Victoria's POV_**

Arwen woke before the crack of dawn. She had actually been able to sleep some throughout the night, but Tobias was still asleep and she gave a small smile as she looked over at him. He was a handsome cat, but she still felt like there was something missing. No, there was someone missing.

She looked out of the window to see the faint grey light starting to bring a tint to the sky. She smiled, and stood up slowly and moved towards the window. With a quick glance back to make sure he was still asleep, she quietly slipped out of the window. She landed on the other side on all fours, and looked around.

There was a large tree a few feet to the side, and she followed the tree up with her eyes. Yes, this one would do nicely. She went to it and started up, and before she knew it she was sitting on the roof of the house, and was watching as the grey sky slowly turned to blue.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" She jumped at the unfamiliar voice, and twisted around to see a cat she didn't recognize standing at the edge of the roof.

She narrowed her eyes, "Who are you?"

The cat hesitated, and she glared, "Is that a difficult question?"

The cat shrugged, "For some people."

Arwen felt like that was more than just a statement, and she shrugged it off. "What are you doing here?"

He smiled and walked around her, going to the highest part of the roof, "I wanted to watch the sunrise."

Arwen allowed herself to relax, but only slightly. This was still a strange cat, and she didn't want to completely let her guard down. "What's your name?"

He smirked, "Milo."

She nodded and sat down a few feet away from him. "I'm Arwen."

"Arwen?" The cat was watching her now, and looked confused.

She tilted her head, "What's wrong with it?"

He watched her for a moment, and then shook his head as if trying to bring himself back to focus, and shrugged, "Nothing. It's great."

She looked him over now, he was small, not much larger than she was. He was of the most adorable coloring; white with large orange patches, and had dark brown eyes. She couldn't but smile. But now he had peaked her interest. "Doesn't seem like nothing. You don't like it?"

He shook his head, "It just…doesn't seem like it fits you."

She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, "Well, I don't really like it either."

He smiled, "So why keep it?"

She looked away from him to see the sun finally peeking over the horizon "Well, Macavity chose it for me. He didn't really give me a chance to argue with him."

For several seconds there was silence, and it went on for so long that Arwen thought something was wrong, so she turned to look at Milo. Sure enough, he had a strange expression on his face that she couldn't quite figure out. "Milo?"

He seemed to jerk back to reality, and she tilted her head, "Are you alright?"

He narrowed his eyes, "You should stay away from him…"

She nodded, "I don't like him very much. He makes me nervous."

Now it was his turn to nod, "He's very dangerous. You could get hurt."

Arwen didn't say anything to that, and gasped as he leaned towards her as he spoke again, "He will hurt you."

She leaned back, and watched the new cat in surprise. This cat cared about her, she could tell. There was just something about his voice. "Hey, do I know you?"

Milo stared at her for several seconds before giving a small smile. "I don't think so, sorry. I'm sure I'd remember you."

Arwen watched him for a moment. "Are you sure? You just seem so…"

She trailed off. She didn't know what to say, he gave a sad smile and nodded, "Familiar?"

She sighed and looked away from him. She wished she could remember.

**_Quaxo's POV_**

He hated seeing her like this. So lost and confused. And she even recognized him. Maybe not specifically, but her heart knew his. He was watching her now, and couldn't bear it any longer. With a heavy sigh he nodded, "Yes, you know me."

Her face lit up like his lightning bolts, and he knew he had made the right decision. "But you have to be careful. The others here are dangerous."

She tilted her head, "Tobias has been nothing but nice to me. He saved me."

Quax – erm….Milo – couldn't help but narrow his eyes. Someone had "saved" his Victoria. That was his job. "Well, even so. I'd be careful if I were you. You don't know what they are capable of."

She scoffed, "Well I hear of another group of cats that are worse. They beat up my…."

She hesitated and Milo couldn't help but tilt his head in curiosity. She didn't know what to call this Tobias, and that really bothered him. Finally she finished, "They beat up my friend."

Milo breathed a sigh of relief. "Who did?"

He watched as Victoria – erm…Arwen – looked down. "A group of cats, I only know them as the Jellicles. Tobias says they are evil."

"Ah, they aren't that bad."

She jerked her head up, "Oh, but they are! I saw what they did to Tobias. He said they attacked him for no reason, he barely made it back here!"

Milo smirked, "You SAW them attack him?"

She blinked, "Well, no, but he wouldn't lie to me!"

Milo rolled his eyes, "Trust me. This group will lie to anyone."

She glared at him, and for the first time he was afraid he had messed everything up. "Tobias wouldn't lie to me! He cares about me!"

"Do you care about him?"

It was a simple question, but she stared at him blankly, "What?"

He sighed, "Do you care about him? It's a simple question."

She watched him carefully for a few seconds, and as she answered he looked down at the roof, "I…I don't know. I like him. But…but I just feel…I feel like there is someone else that I'm supposed to be with. I feel like a part of me is missing…"

Milo nodded, "I know the feeling."

She tilted her head, "You do?"

He nodded once more, "Of course. My mate disappeared; I haven't seen her in…" He shrugged, "a while. I miss her every second. I can't sleep, or eat really…come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I did eat. Until I get her back, there's a part of me that will always be broken…missing…gone."

He hadn't looked up once while saying all this, but when he finally did look up he found her staring at him. He blinked slowly, not sure what to say, and he watched as she seemed to be thinking something over. She was silent for so long, he was beginning to think something was wrong, until finally she looked away. "I wish I could remember."

He wondered what she meant by that. "You will. It will come back."

She looked at him once more, "How can you be sure?"

He smiled, "If you loved your mate half as much as I love mine…your heart won't let you forget forever."

"How do you know I had a mate?"

His eyes widened and he looked down. "Just a hunch."

"No, you know!" She stood and faced him full on, an angry glare in her eyes. "Tell me what you know! What's my name? Who is my mate?"

He shook his head and backed away, "I'm sorry, I can't it will only put you in danger."

"Why? How? Please Milo, you have to tell me."

He sighed and looked down again, "I can't."

There was silence for a few moments before he heard her gasp. He looked up to see her eyes wide, "What is it?"

She stood there staring at him, "You're my mate."

He groaned. His cover was gone, she knew who he was, or at least partly. She'd never give it up, he knew that much. But they couldn't just leave. Tobias would be angry and come after them. "Please, Victoria, I need – "

"Victoria! That's my name! I knew it wasn't Arwen. I knew it!" She grinned, but he sighed, this was going downhill fast.

"Yes, your name is Victoria, and I am your mate. But you CAN'T tell anyone that we met. Especially Tobias." He looked her dead in the eye, "If he finds out he will try to kill us both."

She shook her head, "Why can't I just come with you? If you're my mate, let's just leave."

He moved forward and touched his forehead to hers. "Oh Victoria…how I wish we could. But Tobias will take it as a challenge and come after you…it could get dangerous."

"Can't you fight him off?"

He smirked, "Yes, I could. But I'd rather it didn't come to that."

She shrugged, "Aren't I worth fighting for?"

He backed away and tilted his head. She had changed. His Victoria wasn't that vain, and would never have encouraged him fighting for her. She'd have wanted to find another way, any other way, rather than him risk his physical well being, and possibly his life, fighting. Tobias and this group of felines had already had an effect on her…he only hoped it wasn't permanent.

When he didn't answer she asked again, "Well?"

Finally he nodded. If she wanted to leave now, that had been his whole point in coming right? "Fine then, let's go. We can get back to the Junk Yard and we'll have plenty of protection."

In an instant her whole body changed. She went stiff and her eyes widened, "Junk Yard?"

He nodded, "That's where we live."

"You live in a Junk Yard?"

He hesitated. Something was wrong, but he didn't understand what. "Yes? We both do."

She took a step away from him, pure terror creeping into her eyes, he had never seen her so afraid. "You're a Jellicle!"

He took a step towards her but she scrambled away, "You stay away from me! You were trying to trick me! Tobias said you would! He said you were all tricksters and that you lived in a junk yard across town. There are fifteen cats here and they'll kill you if you hurt me!"

"Victoria," His heart was shattering and he moved slowly towards her, but she kept well out of reach.

"No! You were lying to me! This whole time you were trying to trick me! Victoria isn't even my name is it? You don't even know me! This was all just a trick to lead me away so you could kill me."

He was breathing hard now, his entire plan was shattered in less than half an hour. "Is that what they told you? Everlasting Cat, Victoria you have to believe me…"

She shook her head, her cat eyes filled with so much sadness, anger, and even a little hate, that he thought he would die on the spot. She turned to dash for the tree that was her way down, but he jumped to block her path. "Please! You have to listen to me! I love you! You can't begin to imagine how badly I miss you. What I said earlier was true, about not sleeping, or eating. I haven't slept since you disappeared. We found the spot where you got hit by the car…I thought you were dead! We have been searching everywhere trying to find you! Victoria…please I need you to remember me."

**_Victoria's POV_**

There was something honest about his voice, but she couldn't bring herself to believe him. The name Milo didn't ring any bells at all, and neither did the looks of him. All she knew for sure was that Tobias had never given her any reason to doubt him, and he had said the Jellicles were dangerous. That was all she needed to know. "I don't know who you are!"

"Yes you do!" He said but she shook her head and tried to step around him but he blocked her path. "You do remember me! You said yourself, you felt like a piece of you is missing. I bet you can't sleep right? And you feel alone, even though you have HIM" he spat the word like it was poison in his mouth, "but he isn't enough. I know he kissed you, and you kissed him back, but I bet it didn't feel right. I bet you felt like it was supposed to be someone else. I bet it felt like you were doing something wrong. And I bet you long to have someone wrap their arms around you as you sleep at night, or try to sleep at night. Because that's how we sleep Victoria, I wrap my arms around you and cling to you like you're the last thing holding me together…" He paused for a breath, "And you are."

She stared at him wide eyed. She had felt that, every part of it, over the past few days. But she was afraid. She was afraid of what she didn't understand, and she definitely did not understand this. She took a deep breath and shook her head, but as she spoke her voice shook and she didn't even believe herself. "I'm sorry…I don't know what you're talking about."

She moved past him again, and this time he let her pass. Just as she reached the edge of the roof top, his voice came from behind, "Victoria?"

She looked back but didn't say anything. He sighed, "Please…don't tell them we met. They really will hurt you. I don't care if you believe me or not, but is it worth the risk? Please…I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you."

She stared at him for a few seconds before slowly nodding. He released a breath that he had been holding, and she could tell that he was sincere at least in that respect. She looked back at the tree and jumped, and when she turned to say goodbye, he was gone.

She returned to the living room, now walking on two legs again, and say down on the couch. He was still asleep, but she expected that he would wake up soon. She watched him now, and thought about everything Milo had said.

Was Tobias really dangerous? He hadn't acted dangerous at all around her, not even a little. But when she thought about it, she hadn't known him all that long.

Then there was Milo. She had known him all of thirty minutes, but there was something about him. He had seen into her, into her very heart and soul, as if he knew her every thought and feeling. He had described perfectly what she'd been feeling all this time, and she didn't understand it. Suddenly she was terrified that she'd never see him again. He had caused feeling and emotions to wake up inside her that she'd completely forgotten. He had brought her back to life, she remembered the feelings. She remembered the connection.

He'd been telling the truth! She stared over at Tobias for only a moment before she jumped up and dashed over to the window and up the tree and onto the rooftop. But it was empty. "No."

She looked around hastily; she looked all around the chimney, and finally sat down with a heavy sigh. "Milo…"

"Lose something?"

She jumped and turned to see Tobias standing there. "Tobias! You scared me…I didn't hear you come up."

His eyes were narrowed, "That much was obvious. What were you looking for?"

She swallowed hard. If Milo had been telling the truth about them being mates, then he had probably been telling the truth about Tobias as well. "Nothing, I just wanted to see the view."

He glared, "You know, Arwen, you're a really bad liar. I don't believe you."

She sighed, she had to do better than that. "You're right. I'm sorry, there was another cat up here earlier, and I thought I recognized her." She had changed the gender at the last moment, believing that would be less suspicious.

Tobias lifted an eyebrow and his tail flicked, "What did she look like?"

Arwen – or rather Victoria if she believed Milo – shrugged, "She was black and white, kind of spotted."

Tobias sighed, "Alright. I'm sorry if I scared you…I was worried the Jellicles had come for you. You have to be careful of them. They are masters of disguise, and very good telling lies. They can make you believe anything they want you to."

She nodded, "Yes, you said that before."

He narrowed his eyes, "Because it's true. I want to make sure you understand that. I didn't get these scratches," he indicated his numerous wounds he'd received only yesterday, "for no reason."

She nodded, and again was confused. He wouldn't put himself through harm just to convince her would he? No, he must be telling the truth. Did that mean Milo had been lying? Or were they both lying? No, one of them had to be telling the truth. But which one was the honest one? She had no way to prove that either of them was lying. She would just have to not trust either of them until she figured it out. And she would figure it out.

**_Quaxo's POV_**

Quaxo returned to the Junk Yard with his head hanging low. Munkustrap greeted him just through the drain pipe. "Quaxo? You are back so soon…"

Quaxo said nothing in response to his remark, and only nodded, "Yes. You can make whatever other plans you wish now. I failed."

"Are you alright?"

Quaxo felt a hand on his shoulder, but shrugged it off and said nothing as he walked towards his den, his empty den. As he came through his drain pipe and saw his empty bed he took a deep, shaky breath. He had meant every word that he said, every syllable, and it hadn't been enough. She hadn't believed him. He'd poured out his soul and she had turned away from him. He moved forward and collapsed onto the bed, and was once more reminded of the emptiness that was beside, and now inside, him. He curled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

And there, alone in the loneliness of his den, his den that he had shared with Victoria for a year now, he began to cry.


End file.
